Speaking of Nurses on TV...

Ms. Pomfrey · Nov 14, 2003

Yeah, I saw it; they really brought out the old stereotype about men in nursing being gay or at least effeminate. (rolls eyes)

A shame. They could have had Jack decide to become a nurse without having him assume that all the other male nurses were gay, and certainly without the one man bursting into tears when he found out Jack was leaving the program.

Ms. "are you man enough to be a nurse?" Pomfrey

MarcusKspn · Nov 14, 2003

We should just start a pedition to have NBC permanently shut down. They are the N urses B ecome C rap network.

First we have the allways anti-nurse ER, who were implying yesterday that all nurses do is take care of Code Browns (although I found it pretty funny that the nurse took the jerks hand away :roll ).

Than there is Scrubs, which has the nurse only gossips, and Murses are pathetic thing going for them (I really love scrubs though, its my favorite after ER).

And now Will and Grace sets out to imply that all male nurses are Gay :( .

This is really not a rant, I love all these shows. They have good nurses on those shows. Klara on scrubs does a real good job I think. I just know that these shows yesterday are gonna start another snowball, lol. It cracks me up.

So everybody, enjoy the show's, they are funny, and yes they make us nurses look like crap sometimes, but they also make me laugh. We need to be able to laugh at ourselves, especially considering how stressfull our jobs are. People watch TV, but when they come to the hospital and see how we take care of them and treat them, they will know what nurses are all about.

TV doesn't educate the masses about how nurses act and what they do, we do. So everybody, be the best damn nurse you could be, and we can change the way the world looks at nurses.

twarlik · Nov 14, 2003

I was wondering if this would come up...

I really think we should wait to see where this storyline on "Will and Grace" goes before declaring that NBC should be shut down. While the episode did play on the "gay man as nurse" stereotype, it was only one episode. That show has played on a lot of gay stereotypes in the past and has also managed to have a really positive impact on public perception of gay people.

The thing about last night's episode that actually struck me as the most offensive (and I use the term "offensive" REALLY loosely!) was the notion that one could just enroll in nursing school without much thought or preparation. As a nursing student, I can assure you that this is not the case.

Frankly, the gay nurse thing doesn't really bother me and I don't really understand why it should bother anyone else. I'm a gay nursing student and I actually get more upset when other nurses make a big deal about the gay nurse stereotype. There are plenty of other issues and problems in this profession. I think that this is the last one we should be dealing with.

MarcusKspn · Nov 14, 2003

I really wasn't serious about shutting NBC down, I get upset when ER makes nurses look bad, because they present themselves as a professional show. Scrubs and W&G are sitcoms, I don't take them seriously.

Agnus · Nov 14, 2003

The problem is TV does educate. Even if this is not their intent.

People simply do not know and trust there is some basis in truth for what they see. The problem is we do not always know what that basis is.

It is not just health care. Did you know that when they run fingerprints it is not done by computer as on CSI? The fact is it is done with the human eye. AND the standards vary greatly from agency to agency and place to place. ANd the training for those who do the "matches" is shameful. Did you know it is far from an exact science and serious errors and mis matches are made all the time?

I believe anything on TV is automatically suspect as it is done to entertain first and foremost.

MICU RN · Nov 14, 2003

I think that overall nurses are respected by society, but we are still thought of as helpers and most have no clue to what our education entails and our responsibilities.

Just the other night I was watching a TV show and they were interviewing a public school superintendent of a pretty big city. He was telling a very moving story about how his mother with a 3rd grade education had told him when she was 58 that she was going to get her GED. Although supportive, he has his doubts, well she surprised him and every one else. She later went to a community college and became a RN at 62. SHe went on to productive career and retired from nursing at 70. He went on to state, when his mother told him she wanted to become a RN that ( and this is where I thought he would comment how hard and challenging nuring school is for anyone much less a 60 year old) how he thought it would be so hard for his mom to lift and move all these big patients. Well, I was a little dissapointed but have come to expect comments like that from people outside of nursing. Obviously, he was very proud of his mother's achievements, but I just wish he would have given a better example of what makes nursing difficult beside the physical labor, which is a part of it. By the way I have met a couple former teachers who went to nursing school and all said it was much harder and stressful than their education curriculums. One of best friends from my associate degree program had a master's degree in education and said the two year nursing program was harder. I just wish the public realized it. And yes, these shows like ER, scrubs and the so called reality medical programs do very little to promote what nurses are really capable of, they just seem to glorify the physicians.

flowerchild · Nov 14, 2003

I must admit that these shows you are talking about make me so irritated that I don't even bother watching them. Every time I try I only get through a few minutes before I'm channel surfing.

I have can hardly believe it but I've gotten where I barely watch TV anymore, maybe 3 or 4 shows a week and news.

The shows that portray nurses are unbelievable and ridiculious. The last two times I tried to watch, a guy (Dr?) was going around firing nurses left and right like they were disposable personel. The other show opened with a nurse with someone in a room doing "it". I saw a couple of scenes where the nurse was the handmaiden or being a brown noser. Give me a break. I'll just pass thank you.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Nov 14, 2003

"Scrubs" makes a mockery of the whole healthcare profession, it ain't a wonder that people might have a dim view of hospitals after watching that sh*t.

barefootlady, ADN, RN · Nov 14, 2003

RE: ER

I too loved it when the nurse took off the doc's artificial hand. I was gratified that the female doc backed the nurse and would not give it back. I think society does respect nurses as much as they respect any profession anymore. I don't hear as many nurse jokes as lawyer jokes, so I guess we are still a cut above them.

Agnus · Nov 15, 2003

Originally posted by barefootlady
RE: ER
I don't hear as many nurse jokes as lawyer jokes, so I guess we are still a cut above them.

OMG:eek: I sure hope so. Actually I don't recall any nurse jokes. Now doctor jokes that is another story.